“They’re getting a lot of good pictures of some really good bucks,” said Jeromy Dinsmore of Keystone Outdoors, Fort Loudon. “It’s going to be a good season.”

Judging from trail cams and road kills, Robert Einodshofer, information officer with the state Game Commission, also forecasts “a pretty good season” in southcentral Pennsylvania.

Inconsistent weather troubled archers, but the overall bow-and-arrow season was very successful, especially in the quality of the bucks, Einodshofer said. Deer moved around in the early cold weather, then stayed put as temperatures warmed.

“As the rut came on, there was a lot of activity and hunters were successful,” he said.

More than a third of Pennsylvania’s deer are taken during archery season, according to the Game Commission.

The opening volley on the morning of the first day of rifle season is expected to move the deer.

It’s not a good strategy to hunt an open area, Einodshofer said. It’s better to set up in a travel corridor between the food source and thick cover, then transition to the borders as deer come out to feed in the evening.

“Deer are really hitting the acorns that are dropping,” he said. “Deer are not going to be scattered. It’s going to take legwork to get them moving around.”

Fewer than a quarter of Pennsylvania hunters get a doe during hunting season, and just three of every 20 bag a buck, according to the Game Commission.

Accuweather is forecasting seasonable temperatures in Franklin County for most of rifle season -- daily highs above 40 degrees and lows around freezing at night. Early morning of the season’s first Saturday, a popular hunting day, could be slippery. A bit of ice is forecast Friday night.

The Game Commission has found that more hunters are hurt in falls from tree stands than injured in hunting-related incidents, such as accidental shootings, according to Einodshofer. He urges hunters to double-check their tree stands:

If you have left your stand in the tree, check the straps before climbing on in the predawn of opening day.

A wooden stand needs a thorough inspection.

Anybody leaving the ground needs to wear a safety harness.

Hunters also need to be aware that 2017-18 is the first season that most of Franklin County is part of Disease Management Area 2. The Game Commission has set rules to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease, which is fatal to deer and elk.

“People are thinking about it a lot more than they were previously,” Dinsmore said. “They want to learn more about it.”

The Game Commission will test hunters’ deer for CWD for free, and personally visit hunters whose deer test positive. Those getting negative results will receive a letter. In both cases, the Game Commission asks the hunter to mark on a map where the deer was shot.

The Game Commission is offering free testing of deer for chronic wasting disease this hunting season. A collection box for deer heads is pictured.(Photo: Courtesy)

Three deer taken in DMA 2 during 2017 archery season have tested positive, according to Einodshofer.

Initially test results were available relatively quickly, he said. With hunting seasons across the U.S. at their peak, labs are running at capacity. Turn around time will average about six weeks.

“Most people won’t get their deer tested,” said George Stitley, owner of Stitely's Meat & Deer Processing, 3647 Haulman Road, Chambersburg. “CWD has been around since 1969, and nobody’s been affected by it.”

The Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, recommends that people should not eat meat from animals that test positive for CWD, even though there is no evidence that CWD is transmissible to humans or traditional livestock.

A hunter notified of a positive for CWD will have the option of keeping the meat or turning it over for incineration by the Game Commission. For CWD testing the Game Commission has set up two head collection containers in the Franklin County area – one at State Game Lands 124 parking area on Little Cove Road, Mercersburg, and another off Old Route 30 at 50 Newman Road, Ortanna.